Friday, August 8, 2008

Now that I'm back home it is time to catch up on everything. First on the agenda was a birthday fun day!

River Tubing Fun!!The Saturday before the girls and I left for our trip, sister-in-law celebrated the little "4-0" in style and invited everyone for an adventure & a bbq. The sport was inner tubing down a local river and what a blast! The ladies tied the tubes together so we could drift and visit while the teens floated down in little groups on their own.

The birthday girl!

Sitting in my tube I snapped photos whenever my tube swung around enough to catch someone in the camera's frame. See for yourself some of the fun memories of that day...

Son tubes away. At first he was very nervous and his tube was tied to mine. It wasn't long before he grew confident enough the "bonds were severed" and away he floated to join his cousins further downstream.

This niece did not like the inner tube at all and was rather panicked until husband offered up a tube he had brought. It had a netted bottom so she could sit safely and lounge about. Once settled into this float she enjoyed herself immensely.

Daughter, her Alberta friend and my nephew prepare to float away at the start of tubing. They flew down the river and often stopped to swim until the tied-up convoy floated within range.

The problem with having many tubes inter-tied is that we got hung up on anything... rocks, branches, shallow water... husband and his brother were our guides, pushing and pulling our tubes as necessary to get the posse floating away again. Here you can see husband navigating the flotilla away from the shore.

One of our pit stops was for a lunch break and the other was to swim. This is the second stop and the 3 littlest ones tested out the water. There was a cute little cove just off to the right, with warm and shallow water. The girls paddled in there and one niece gave me a "spa" treatment by scrubbing my arms and feet with sand (lucky her, huh?)

Nephew enjoys the lunch break. The tubes doubled as comfy seats during the meal.

The birthday girl's son. Isn't nephew a handsome fellow? Whether playing or working he takes a serious outlook to his life and squeezes every moment out of life. He not only tubed but also brought a net along to catch and examine stream critters. He explored both the water and water's edge. Given this is the same kid who caught the only snake EVER to slither through my backyard I didn't even ask him what he found on this trip (remember my butt is sagging in the water below the tube!!)

Here daughter semi-poses for me. Although she appears serious she wasn't. Need proof? After this stunning photo she needed a drink.... (not THAT kind folks - she's just 14!!)

Hey birthday girl ~ you know how to throw a party! How about turning 40 again next year and doing this again?? We're in!!